Ocoee Approves 5 Annexations For Land Plan Review

July 6, 1986|By Lauren Ritchie of The Sentinel Staff

OCOEE — City commissioners approved five annexation requests, postponed six and rejected two, and heard comments on three proposed rezonings in preparation for the twice yearly amendments to the city's comprehensive plan.

The plan, required by the state, directs the city to set land uses and make sure that rezonings match the uses. Those land uses can be changed only twice a year, creating a stack of annexations and rezonings for commissioners to complete at once.

This batch of amendments will be heard Tuesday at a combined city commission and city planning and zoning commission meeting. Official action on the amendments is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. July 15. Action on projects seeking rezoning is set for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19. The delay between action on the amendments and the rezoning of a project is necessary because the state requires a 21-day appeal period, said City Planner Russ Wagner.

Among the proposals to be discussed July 15 are:

-- The Frank Courtney property, north of Silver Star Road, east of Johio Shores Road and west of Lake Stanley. Courtney, whose land was recently annexed by the city, is requesting zoning that would allow quarter-acre lots on most of the subdivision and half-acre lots near the lake.

Nancy Christman, an Orange County planner, said the county objects to the small size of the lots. Before the land was annexed, the county's zoning required 2 acres for each house. Christman said the county was particularly concerned about the type of zoning because it is near the Clarcona area, where county commissioners promised residents the zoning would remain rural.

-- Renaissance Investments property, about 30 acres east of Lake Bennett and north of State Road 50. Developers have said they will request commercial zoning for a 200,000-square-foot shopping center that will include a major grocery and drug store.

Christman said county planners would like to see low- to medium-density residential zoning. She said that the county likes shopping centers built near major intersections. The Renaissance property is on State Road 50, east of Bluford Avenue.

City Commissioner John Bateman said the county has designated property east of the Renaissance property on S.R. 50 as commercial and that land is even farther from a major intersection.

-- Story and U.S. Homes property, north of Silver Star Road and south of Spring Lake. The 10 acres are zoned for agriculture and the owners want it rezoned for a planned unit development, which is how surrounding land is zoned. Residents did not object to the rezoning or the change in the comprehensive plan, but they petitioned commissioners to prohibit motorboats from using Spring Lake. Attorney Frank Kruppenbacher said he would write a draft ordinance and present it to commissioners later.

Commissioners rejected annexation of the Charles Hawthorne property, 88 acres south of Silver Star Road around Lake Olympia. Developers had indicated they wanted to build commercial and high-density residential but had not finalized plans.

Action was postponed on the annexation of five parcels totaling 260 acres that would have been a major development. Developer Barry Goodman and his company, Residential Communities of America Inc., requested the delay to allow the city to look at plans for the proposed homes and a shopping center.